Monthly Archives: August 2017

The focus of our program here at CrossFit 4504 is about guiding our members to find wellness and avoid the current rate people are succumbing to chronic diseases such as metabolic diseases, lack of function in body e.g. unable to move themselves, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and a whole raft of others.

CrossFit the training methodology has a different focus than CrossFit the sport and thats an important differentiation to make. We are training and supporting our members to get more from life and to lead a better quality of life.

Lee’s story below is an example of how successful our program can be, when used in conjunction with a healthy diet, and working closely with allied health professionals to guide their progress. Having a medical condition doesn’t mean you have to or should opt out of physical activity, with the right team behind you and the right advice and support, you can improve from where you are now, and have better long term outcomes.Coach Lisa

When I was young I put a lot of weight on very quickly.

Lee – Type 2 Diabetic & CrossFitter

In high school I was pretty active, I ran, played sports but in my first six months out of school I had a “uni student” diet and no exercise at all. The result of this sudden surge of inactivity, processed food and weight gain was that I would be diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes at twenty years old.

Twenty years later I still live with Diabetes but I’m proud to say that it’s managed well through a combination of food, medication and of course CrossFit.

It wasn’t always like this though.

At twenty, nothing will kill you. At least that’s what you subconsciously believe and the problem with a disease like Diabetes Type 2 is that it sneaks up on you. It takes your life bit by bit, quietly without you noticing it. Your life expectancy drops by ten years, your quality of life towards the end takes an even sharper drop. But it doesn’t happen straight away and you can ignore it for years, stubbornly, angrily, like I did.

At my lowest point I was sick, I had severe nosebleeds all the time, ten years on it had caught up with me. I eventually and reluctantly went to see the doctor and she said simply, that I was now at critical and if I didn’t make changes I was going to die.

Lots of medication. Not at insulin just yet which was something but I had a bunch of pills to take and a diet to change and exercise to do.

I made changes, but I struggled a lot. I relapsed into bad habits after I got my first frozen shoulder.

But then I discovered functional fitness at a local gym. Lots of varied functional movements like sledgehammers and tire flips. Movements that made sense and were fun and frankly addictive. I got my blood sugars down to just off normal, that is to say, the numbers that a non-diabetic has.

Then the second frozen shoulder happened, and the progress stalled and I think the program itself lacked something I needed. At the same time, my Doctor changed and everything spiraled out of control. I was exhausted with it all, and angry again and depressed and to be honest I was scared. I did start power lifting and as much fun as it was, from my personal disease management it didn’t have the impact I needed.

Then I found CrossFit, or maybe it found me. I had up until this point bought into the whole CrossFit is a cult and is bad for you story. My wife was the first to try it and she raved about the positive experience at CrossFit 4504. There was a focus on proper form, options to scale and most importantly a methodology.

When I first started I was asked what my goal was and I said I wanted to be in the best shape I’ve ever been at forty. Physically and mentally, though I kept the mental part to myself. Probably the biggest part of being in the best shape was managing my diabetes, not just throwing pills at it and miserably eating a low GI diet or altogether just ignoring the problem. CrossFit has given me the tools not only inside the gym to monitor and build on my progress but that same mentality follows me into my management of the disease.

Taking part in the 2017 CrossFit Open

I have numbers in my bloodwork that are goals to work towards with my Doctor, we are working on the most effective combination of medication and exercise. Each dreaded blood test is a chance to track more data, work out where I need to work harder. My diet is quite good but it’s not perfect, what I’ve learned though unfortunate trial and error is that some of my indulgences are workable as long as two out of three parts of my plan are working. If I’m consistent with my medication and my training then there’s some leeway with my diet (not a free for all but I’ll take whatever slack I can get).

The approach CrossFit takes to exercise has completely changed my Diabetes experience, the mixture of heavy lifting and metabolic conditioning has made the medication really effective and as I become better with my diet, which you naturally start doing anyway, I’m confident that I’m going to claw a couple of those years back.

I wish I’d discovered CrossFit years ago, I have complications from the years of neglect that could have been avoided completely instead of managing or trying to reverse the damage.

I can’t stress it enough that if you have Diabetes Type 2 and you want to increase the effectiveness of your medication (or even reduce it) and minimise the impact it can have on your health long term then CrossFit is designed to help.

Come try CrossFit 4504 and see the difference it will make in managing those blood sugars!

For a limited time, we are offering a Complimentary 7 Day Trial so you can experience fully who we are and what we do. Get in touch to get started.

Have you ever tried a gym that sounds perfect online, only to discover that it’s not the all inclusive experience you were after?

Does every session you attend finish with a quick “Well done, see you next week”, slash tomorrow, slash next time you want to hand over some more $$ for a semi-satisfying sweat with no real concern over how you actually FEEL? No concern with improving your technique? No concern with strategies on becoming more mobile, or helping you get more for your hard-earned dollar? Or how about banking on the that most of their members won’t turn up anyway but they’ve got you locked into a complicated contract?

Do you find yourself wondering why you bothered to drag your sorry ass to a less than memorable session after a long day, when 3 beers (or insert favourite beverage here) and Netflix would have reduced your stress levels more effectively?

If your answer was YES to any of the above, read on to hear about our philosophy at CrossFit 4504…..

Our passion is your overall WELLBEING…

Why?

Because we want you to set goals, to push your current physical limits and make gains. But more importantly, we want to help you set strategies to achieve those goals, so that you are in control of your achievements, and your confidence grows more than your muscles. We want you to smile more, and be more confident in your daily life, we want you to have fun achieving those goals.

Kelsie working towards her goals

Because our focus is NOT to have you ‘bikini’ or ‘budgie smuggler’ ready for Summer! Our focus is to help you feel good about YOU- no matter what you look like. And we know and understand that feeling cool about you is established in your head, not your booty!

And because we genuinely care about wanting you to reach your full potential – physically and mentally. To be the best bloody version of you there is!!

We want you to work hard, but not to the point where your technique collapses. This leads to injury, which is what we don’t want. The RELATIONSHIPS we create with our members are so important to us and our programming is balanced to ensure your longevity.

Tara in action

Our amazing coaches are available before, during and after class to help you achieve success. In person, online, on the phone – we want you to realise that we are committed to your success. And we know that SUCCESS is defined differently for each and every member in our wonderful community.

Coach Lisa giving Lance a well done

Sounds like something you are looking for? A holistic, no BS gym that will not only help you RESET your focus, but ACHIEVE your potential? Then give us a call. Send us a message. Let us get you started at CrossFit 4504 and prove to you how awesome you really are.

For a limited time we are offering a Complimentary 7 Day Trial so you can experience fully who we are and what we do. Get in touch to get started.

CrossFit is for everyone! Every day, real women are giving the constantly varied, high-intensity mix of cardio, weightlifting and gymnastic movement a crack…and loving it. Here’s a few reasons why we think everyone, especially women should give it a go.

1. You’ll learn proper technique and have a coach always correcting your form to help you progress faster and avoid injury.

If you’ve always been to scared to use the weight section of a gym because you didn’t know what to do, at CrossFit 4504 we solve that problem by taking the time to teach you everything you need to know. We get you started with our On Ramp program which is 3×1:1 sessions with a coach to teach you the common movements and fill you with confidence before jumping into classes.

Coach Lance keeping an eye on Kelsie

2. Bored with doing the same routines? Or don’t know what to do when you get to the gym?

At CrossFit 4504 we do that hard work for you, all the programming is done by our Head Coach so you never have to think about what to work on. We program with a balance of strength and conditioning work as well as other skills to ensure you are well rounded in your development. We regularly work on weaknesses and no 2 workouts are the same

We use all sorts of ‘toys’ in our workouts

3. Everything can be scaled and modified.

If you look around CrossFit 4504 you’ll see a variety of ages, amounts of experience and levels of ability. Yet everyone’s getting a workout that’s challenging to their own ability That’s because scaling weight appropriately is encouraged, and nearly all CrossFit movements can be modified. For example, a new athlete may modify push ups by using a box or opting for a lighter a kettlebell. And once again our awesome coaches are there to guide you every single day.

Marie doing modified Handstand Push Up Skills

4. A whole new bunch of friends and a community to support you.

Some people may call CrossFit a cult, but we will tell you it’s a community, a family. Our coaches and community create a sense of teamwork and camaraderie. It’s a regular occurrence at CrossFit 4504 to have the rest of the class encourage those yet to finish by doing extra reps with them or going out to a last run with them to cheer them on while they finish a workout.

The team cheering Tara on as she tries for her first pull up

5. It’s like personal training, but more affordable.

Yes, CrossFit is typically a significant financial investment. But, it’s much more affordable than sessions with a personal trainer, and you’ll still get many of the same benefits. At CrossFit 4504 our coaches to get to know every athlete so that they can help them achieve the best results. Our classes are capped to 10 people so you always get plenty of personal attention.

Coach Lisa working with Melina

We are a warm, inclusive, family friendly box. Kids are always welcome and we have plenty of options to keep them safe while you get a great workout in. Invest some time in YOU!! What have you got to lose?